


The Hero

by sapphictsumiki



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Post Calamity Ganon, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), link can talk for plot reasons lmao, zelda doing her best to keep it together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25257361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphictsumiki/pseuds/sapphictsumiki
Summary: Zelda was forced into a role of power at such a young age that she never truly got to process it. That is, until now. All of the things she’s endured the past 100 years, not to mention the continuous deaths of her people, begins to take a toll on her mental health. Luckily, Link is there for her and isn’t leaving anytime soon.
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Kudos: 6





	The Hero

“I’m tired, Link.”  
“I’m so tired. I’ve been trying to brave it, as I need to be strong for our people, but,” she spoke, “Urbosa. Mipha, Daruk, Revali. My father. Thousands upon thousands of others have died, and all because of me.”  
Link thought he should say something. He should tell her it’s not her fault. How do you do that? How do you comfort someone you haven’t spoken to in a hundred years? Instinctively, he spoke. “You haven’t changed a bit.”   
Zelda’s face jolted over to him as the words left his lips. “Ah, I’m still not accustomed to hearing you talk. You never did, before...”  
A bittersweet smile crept onto her face. “You know, before Calamity Ganon...”  
“That beast took everything from us. He took everything from me...” She choked on her last word, seemingly not used to speaking to another as of yet.  
“I waited for so long for you. And you came! Ah, you wouldn’t believe how happy I was when I sensed you had awoken... But even though he’s gone, Even though he’s gone I..”   
“I’m not happy. Why, I’ve been anticipating his death for a century, and still, I... I should be overjoyed. But I’m not. Really, when you think about it, Link. We’re alone. We’re all alone in this world. You’re all that’s left of what I was supposed to be back then.”   
Link looked at her, studying her demeanor. Was the princess always this gloomy? “Well, There is others. There’s plenty of Zora who lived through the century we were gone, and The koroks,”  
Zelda sighed. “You don’t get it, do you?”  
“All of my friends. All of my family, they’re gone. This whole time, I’ve been struggling, for our people, for all of Hyrule, but I’m tired. I haven’t been tending to my own needs in so long, I’ve forgotten what it feels like. Urbosa would scold me about now, I’m sure.” The princess smiled fondly at the memory of their fallen Gerudo champion, “How I wish I could go back. Back to when they were alive. Urbosa’s motherly tendencies, Mipha’s gentleness, Daruk’s courage, Revali’s sarcasm. I took advantage of it back then. They’re all gone now. Everything I knew then... Is gone.”   
Link frowned. “Well, I’m not.”  
“You’re right. I should be thankful. I should be happy at least I’m not alone.”   
The champion nodded in response.  
“Then, Why? Why is it so painful? Why are these memories haunting me? They’re in the past... I shan’t dwell on them, but I can’t stop thinking about them. I loved them. This entire time, I haven’t had my own time to think. I’ve been busy holding Ganon back. Now it’s truly hitting me.”  
She frowned. “They’re really... They’re really dead, aren’t they?”  
Link nodded in response yet again.  
They’re gone. They’ve been gone this whole time. Death is the end. Their spirits performed one last time, and that was it. The curtain had fallen.  
Perhaps he didn’t feel as upset because of his slumber. All he had of them were memories, after all.  
He looked up from his thoughts to see Zelda crying. This had been the second time he’s seen her like this, the first right after Ganon had awoken.  
“I really am a pathetic excuse of royalty, aren’t I?”  
Why did she think that? Wasn’t she the one who saved him? The one who held off disaster from Hyrule for a century?   
Link was distraught from his inability to comfort her, but also that this girl in front of him was nothing like the stories.   
She looked just about 17, Her eyes heavy with dark circles, and prepared to mentally break down in front of him. She looked like she was so fragile, He swore that if he dared touch her, she’d shatter into millions of tiny pieces.   
This was the world’s savior.   
And she was sobbing right in front of him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! This was really just a sad little one shot I wrote when I was in the angst mood. I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
